Why the world questions Turkey's stance on Islamic State

Is Turkey actually fighting the Islamic State? Or is the accusation that Turkey supports IS valid? If you ask President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, no other state combats IS as much as Turkey does.

After the deadly suicide bombing Jan. 12 in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet area, he was asked how sincere Turkey is about fighting IS. An irate Erdogan replied, “Turkey is the primary target of all terror organizations operating in the region, because we are combating all of them without discrimination. Is there any other country in the world apart from Turkey that combats the [IS] terror organization as we do and pays so much doing so?”

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also said Turkey is determined in its battle against IS.

“In about 48 hours, we attacked [IS] with about 500 tank and artillery rounds,” Davutoglu said a few days after the assault in Istanbul. “We hit [IS] positions and bunkers with all our means at the Syrian border and at Bashiqa. About 200 [IS] militants were killed in the last 48 hours.”